15 Facts About Martin Eberhard

Martin Forest Eberhard is an American engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla, Inc with Marc Tarpenning in July 2003, where Eberhard was its original CEO serving until late 2007.

Martin Eberhard began his career as an electrical engineer at Wyse Technology, where he designed the WY-30 ASCII computer terminal as his first product.

Martin Eberhard co-founded Network Computing Devices in 1987, where he served as chief engineer through its IPO in 1992.

In 1996, Martin Eberhard founded NuvoMedia with Marc Tarpenning, where they developed the Rocket eBook, the first e-book with secure internet delivery of content.

Martin Eberhard served as chairman and CEO until NuvoMedia's acquisition by Gemstar in 2000.

Martin Eberhard found out about and attempted to purchase a prototype EV sports car called the AC Propulsion tzero.

Martin Eberhard provided some financial and technical support in the conversion of the tzero to lithium-ion batteries.

Martin Eberhard then tried to convince AC Propulsion founder Alan Cocconi to turn the tzero into a production car.

When Cocconi declined, Martin Eberhard co-founded, and became the first CEO of Tesla Motors, an electric car company in Menlo Park, California in 2003.

Martin Eberhard noted that while he had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Tesla, "so I must, by contract, be a bit careful about how I word things", he was not happy with the transition.

In June 2009, Martin Eberhard brought a lawsuit against Elon Musk for libel, slander, and breach of contract, alleging that Musk pushed him out of the company, publicly disparaged him, and compromised Tesla's financial health.

Martin Eberhard confirmed in an interview with CNBC in October 2019 that he is still a shareholder of Tesla, and is still rooting for their success.

In 2010, Martin Eberhard confirmed to Autoblog Green that he was doing work with Volkswagen, but no further details were provided.

In September 2016, Martin Eberhard founded stealth-mode startup inEVit in a bid to supply major OEMs with electric drivetrains and power storage solutions.

Martin Eberhard served as chief innovation officer until leaving in July 2018.